Just down the river from my marina is a boat graveyard. A place where people take their worthless boats with the intention of "fixing them up". Reality of course is, they don't fix them up, they just leave them anchored (usually with three cinder blocks on a rope) until they break loose and drift into the marsh. With the six foot tides, it's not long until they get stuck, tip and sink.

There's a local guy who drags them out of the water to the boatramp and hauls them away for the value of the lead in the keel.

There's a point in the life of a boat (if it hasn't been cared for and maintained) where it's not worth the cost of repairs. Spending $20K to repair a boat that will be worth $10K when you're finished is not smart.

There's a point in the life of a boat (if it hasn't been cared for and maintained) where it's not worth the cost of repairs. Spending $20K to repair a boat that will be worth $10K when you're finished is not smart.

Yes, perhaps, but that last sentence is true of the vast majority of boats, regardless of condition. I think it is not what it's ultimately worth to someone else, but what has that 20K gotten for the owner?